Wood Witch and the Bounty Hunter

Ronan yanked his knife from the wall, annoyed that he’d missed Elise before she vanished. He was muttering darkly to himself as he turned around, but then he saw Flora huddled on the floor with tears running down her face. He temporarily forgot that he was a big scary bounty hunter. He’d done a lot of comforting for his mother after his father died, and for his siblings over the years since he was the eldest. He crossed the room and gently pulled her to her feet.

“Hey, it’ll be okay,” he said. She kept her head down, sniffling and he could feel her shaking. Ronan led her to the couch and sat her down. He tilted her chin up and brushed some of the tears away. She tensed a little and he felt a stab of guilt for invading her space. She didn’t need him scaring her again on top of everything else. He dropped his gaze and scooted away slightly.

“I’m sorry,” he said quickly. “About…about everything.”

To his shock, she scooted closer to him and just kind of crumpled into his chest, crying all over his shirt. He sat there for a moment, a little panicked because he didn’t know what he should do. Finally he reluctantly put his arms around her and stroked her hair a little.

“She was my sister,” Flora hiccuped. “I can’t believe she’d do this to me.”

“You deserve a better sister.”

“I didn’t know she was using black magic, I swear. I didn’t know she was doing these horrible things.”

“I know.”

“ You could’ve killed me and then you wouldn’t have been mixed up in this.”

“If I’d killed you, then Elise would go on hurting people and I’d have killed an innocent woman.”

“Elise will target you too if you’re helping me.”

“She’ll probably target me even if I stopped helping you,” he shrugged. “She knows me now.”

“You should just take me back to the woods and leave me there. Just let the bounty hunters get me and sell the mermaid tears and get away from the city and-“

“Hey, come on. Don’t say things like that. I said I was going to clear your name and stop the real killer. I promised to help you, and I’m going to. I’m not dumping you off anywhere, and I’m not leaving you.”

She quieted a little, though she was still clinging to him. At least the sobbing had become sniffles.

“Uh, listen,” Ronan said slowly. “There’s something in town that I need to do, and you have to come with me. I’m not leaving you anywhere alone after all this, it’s too dangerous. It might be kind of awkward but…maybe it’ll also cheer you up.”

“What is it?”

“Well tomorrow is my little sister’s birthday.”

“You have a little sister?” She drew back a little bit to look up at him.

“I have two little sisters. And three little brothers. I thought I’d have to miss the party because I expected to be away from town but since we’re here, I should go and surprise her. My family is big, and loud, but you’d like them I think. And they’ll like you. And you don’t have to use a fake name or a glamour once we’re at the house. We’ll just leave out all the bounty hunter and wicked witch stuff. I understand if you don’t really want to go, but I-“

“I’d like to go,” she said quietly. “I’d like to meet them.”

“Okay.” He nodded. “Good. Uh. We should probably go now, if you’re ready.”

She wiped her eyes and Ronan reluctantly let her go, leading her back to the stables where Briar waited for them.

“You can ride behind me again if you want,” Ronan said. “If you don’t want to sit in front.”

“I don’t mind, sitting in front was kind of nice,” she said. “I mean, it was a bit more comfortable.”

He thought she blushed but he decided she was probably still just a little queasy. He climbed into the saddle behind her, feeling a little self-conscious about putting his arms around her and hoping it didn’t make her too uneasy. He got a room at another inn not too far from his family’s home. He wanted to surprise Annabelle tomorrow, and he thought Flora could use a night to collect herself before she had to meet a bunch of strangers.

“So, you have five younger siblings?” Flora asked after a while. He nodded.

“Annabelle is turning sixteen tomorrow. Hannah turned eighteen a couple months ago, and she landed an apprenticeship with the best glass blower in the city. It comes with room and board, so she’s going to have a little place that’s technically her own soon. No, actually. She would’ve started her apprenticeship this week so she must be moved in already. Freddie is fourteen, si he knows everything. Geoffrey and Jude are the youngest. They’re ten, and twins. Jude is quiet, and likes to read. Geoffrey has a lot of energy and likes to remind everyone that he’s almost eleven. He will tell you at least three times.”

Flora cracked a small smile. “They sound nice. And your parents?”

“You’ll love my mom,” Ronan said. “Everyone does. My dad…he died when I was ten. That’s why I joined the Guild.”

She looked startled. “You were only ten? Isn’t that pretty young to start bounty hunter training?”

“They’ll take kids as young as eight, as long as they survive. My dad worked in the mines and there was a cave in. My mom was pregnant with Geoffrey and Jude at the time, so she couldn’t work as much as she usually did. The Guild pays you during training as long as you don’t wash out or die. I was a kid, so there wasn’t much I could do in the way of work. The Guild paid okay, enough to get us by anyway, until my training was done and I started actually collecting bounties. My mom works as a seamstress but she works for this awful old woman who always takes credit for her designs. She likes to garden too, or she did when there was time for it. With my dad gone and so many kids and work she stays pretty busy.”

Ronan realized he was rambling and cleared his throat. “Well we should get some sleep.”

He was dropping bedroll in the corner again when Flora approached him and tried to hand him the jar of mermaid tears.

“You should take this,” she said. He gently pushed the jar away and shook his head.

“Hold on to it,” he said. “If I’m bested in a fight before we can clear your name, you can sell that and use the money to get as far away from Lionsdale as possible.”

“But I-“

“Just keep it. It’s okay.”

The next day Flora used a glamour and her cloak until they reached his mother’s house. She let the glamour drop as he opened the front door and followed him inside a little nervously. Ronan could hear everyone gathered in the kitchen.

“There better still be cake,” he said, strolling into the room. He braced as they all stampeded toward him, like always.

“Ronan!” Annabelle cried, practically leaping on him. “You came!”

“Did you really think I’d miss your sixteenth birthday?” Ronan smiled.

“Let your brother breathe,” Linnea said, also like always. She came forward to hug him. “We’re so happy you could be here.”

Linnea stepped back and noticed Flora, who was partially hiding behind him. He gently nudged her forward.

“This is Flora,” he said. “She’s a friend…helping me with a job. Flora, this is my mother, Linnea.”

“It’s nice to meet you,” Flora squeaked. “I hope I’m not imposing by being here.”

“Of course not.” Linnea gave her a warm smile, then hugged her too. “We’re more than happy to have a friend of Ronan’s visit. There’s still some breakfast leftover, of all miracles. Would you like something to eat before we start baking the cake? It’s kind of a family effort.”

Linnea ushered her to the table and Ronan couldn’t help but smile. Linnea shared his pale blue eyes but had bright red hair instead of dark brown like his, and she reminded him of a little dancing flame with how bright and warm she was. Once the chaos of after-breakfast clean up was done, Linnea set out what they needed to make the cake. Ronan, having participated in this tradition many times, put on a show of juggling the eggs before cracking them into the bowl. It still amused even the oh so grown up Hannah, and he saw Flora smiling too. As he’d predicted, his family welcomed her in with open arms. She even got to help make the frosting for the cake.

The twins always felt a need to give Ronan a rundown of every detail of their lives, and this time Flora got sucked into it too. The twins practically shoved them onto the little couch.

“I get to go first this time,” Geoffrey scowled. He climbed up and wedged himself between Flora and Ronan and launched into his exploits in sports with other kids in the neighborhood.

“They still won’t let me play with the big kids even though I’m almost eleven,” he complained and Ronan shot Flora a quick smile.

“Told you,” he mouthed and she bit back a giggle. When Geoffrey was done Jude gave them a full synopsis of the latest book he’d read. They were dragged outside for a lively game of tag, which Flora was pulled into too. Ronan kept letting himself be tagged and then immediately tagging someone else until his siblings tackled him to the ground and flopped across him.

“Oh no, I can’t possibly take on so many,” he said dramatically. “Please, show mercy on me, mighty warriors.” He sprawled out and pretended to go limp until they started to climb off of him.

“He’s bluffing!” Jude cried in alarm, and Ronan sat up with blinding speed, catching Jude and spinning him around before catching both his sisters and tickling them till their shrieked while Linnea stood off to the side talking to Flora and laughing at their antics.

Annabelle’s face lit up when Ronan gave her the delicate pearl necklace he’d bought her. He’d gotten a similar one for Hannah when she turned sixteen and Annabelle had always admired it. She beamed and hugged him tightly. Even Geoffrey’s energy was beginning to flag when Ronan said he and Flora had to go.

His siblings collectively groaned. “Can’t you guys stay longer?” Jude complained. “We miss you and Flora is fun.”

“Yeah,” Geoffrey echoed. They were sitting between Ronan and Flora, practically falling asleep on them. Even Flora looked a little pouty at the idea of leaving and Ronan laughed.

“Come on, we’ll take you guys up to bed. I promise to visit again soon, okay?”

“And you’ll bring Flora?” Annabelle asked hopefully.

“If she wants to come,” Ronan said, figuring Flora would be eager to clear her name and get away from him as quickly as possible. But that wasn’t something he was going to share right now. He gave each of his siblings a hug good night, and Flora looked a bit like she might cry as they all eagerly hugged her too. She helped him carry Jude and Geoffrey to their room and plop them into bed. Linnea was in the kitchen, and he went in to tell her they were leaving. She planted a kiss on his cheek.

“Be careful, and come back soon,” she said. “And bring Flora too. She seems like a sweet girl.”

“She is,” Ronan agreed. Linnea followed him to the door, pulling Flora into another hug. The poor girl had probably been hugged at least fifty times that day, he thought with amusement.

“It was so good to meet you,” Linnea gushed. “Please come see us again.”

Flora seemed in better spirits as they walked back to the inn and returned to their room.

“I warned you my family is kind of loud. And not big on personal space,” Ronan said.

“They’re great,” Flora replied. She glanced over at him. “I’m kind of surprised you’re not married. You seem like you’re good with kids.”

“Women aren’t exactly lining up to be with a man who has nothing to offer,” Ronan smirked. “I only get paid as long as I capture a bounty, so I tend to be gone for days or weeks at a time doing dangerous work. And I’m a killer,” he added plainly. He glanced briefly down at his hands, half expecting to see blood on them. “I became one knowingly and willingly. I’ve no right to ask anyone to look past that, so I won’t.”

He flopped down onto his bedroll, exhausted but the good kind. He sat up again after the light was out.

“Uh,” he said awkwardly. “I hope you had fun. My family really likes you.”

“I liked them too,” Flora said quietly.

“Okay. Good. Um. Good night.”